IPL 7: Will MCA allow Shah Rukh Khan entry to Wankhede Stadium?

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) finds itself in a catch-22 situation as it may have to allow Kolkata Knight Riders' co-owner Shah Rukh Khan at Wankhede stadium if it wants to host the IPL final on June 1.

One of the conditions put forth by Indian Premier League Chairman Ranjib Biswal to MCA was to allow entry to all franchise owners and officials for hosting the finals.

Bollywood actor and Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan (right in black shirt) walks away following an altercation with officials after the IPL Mumbai Indians vs KKR match at the Wankhede Stadium on May 16, 2012. Pic/AFP

The Bollywood superstar was banned for five years from entering MCA premises, including the Wankhede Stadium, by the Association's managing committee, headed by the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, on May 18, 2012 after he was involved in a skirmish with security staff and officials of the cricket body after his team's victory over Mumbai Indians two nights earlier.

Biswal had yesterday replied to protest letter it received from the MCA attaching a list of do's and dont's, which have been clearly defined in the letter. Some of the other conditions put out by the IPL were to allot 85 per cent parking slots to IPL, no ambush marketing at the stadium, no bursting of fire crackers post 10 pm, limited number of accreditations to MCA members.

The MCA will have a managing committee meeting tomorrow evening to discuss these conditions. However, it is not clear whether the MCA would lift the ban, as sources said there is no IPL rule that owners must be present for the final. Yesterday, the IPL Governing Council deferred its decision over the protest letter it received from the MCA against the shifting of the cash-rich league's final from Wankhede to M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Stung by the Governing Council's decision to shift the final assigning any specific reasons, MCA president Sharad Pawar had shot off a protest letter to the Board.

Pawar had shot off the letter to the IPL Governing Council and all BCCI members, demanding a real reason behind shifting the T20 extravaganza's grand finale to Bangalore from its original venue. The letter by Pawar had asked for the reason for this decision of the Governing Council.

"Considering that 20 matches of the ongoing Pepsi IPL season were played overseas, the GC took a decision to try and take the play-offs to as many stadia as possible.

Several venues had expressed their interest in hosting the play-offs," BCCI had said when announcing the revised knock-out schedule. Protesting the BCCI move, officials of the MCA had handed over their IPL accreditations to the tournament organisers. On Saturday, IPL's GC got involved in a tele-conference and decided to allot the final to the Karnataka Cricket Association. The May 30 Qualifier 2, however, is scheduled as per original fixture at the Wankhede Stadium, which has already hosted three home games of Mumbai Indians and is set to host two more on May 23 and 25.

The May 28 eliminator has been allotted to the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium.